Lightwell
by IBelieveYouLiar
Summary: Spoilers for "To Love and Die in LA". Songfic about the aftermath of the now-infamous LA episode. Castle/Beckett, featuring a song by the magnificent Megan Washington. One-shot.


**Hey guys! Welcome to another Castle one-shot by me! I don't think that this is one of my best but I've posted it anyway because it features a song by my all-time favourite artist. The song is called "Lightwell", hence the name of this fic, and it's by the gorgeous Megan Washington. Go Youtube her, she's absolutely AMAZING!**

**So yeah, this is just a short one but I thought I'd share all the same. I'm still playing with the sequel to "The Story Of A Boy And A Girl", so keep your eyes open for that - probably not for a couple of weeks.**

**Disclaimer: Neither the characters or the song belong to me, I just enjoy fluffing them up occasionally :)**

**IBYL  
>xo<strong>

The small package sat at the foot of her door, and Detective Kate Beckett sighed lightly. It had been a long day, one full of paperwork – which unfortunately gave her extra time to think. Even more so since her ever-distracting shadow had decided to leave her alone with her punishment for going rogue.

That wasn't really what had made the day seem so long, though. She'd woken up early to a phone call from Josh, who was in Haiti for a short stint with Doctors without Borders – and he was none too pleased about her going to LA without his knowledge. She didn't feel like she could explain honestly why she was there, so she told him the story her and Castle told everyone else – that they were visiting the movie set for _Heat Wave_. Unfortunately, she wasn't thinking when she said that, and Josh went nuts. He told her to choose between him and Castle, so she did – she told Josh to have a nice life, and hung up the phone. He should've known he wasn't going to win with an ultimatum like that. If she was honest with herself, she'd been trying to find a way to break up with him for a while. Her heart was never in the relationship anyway – it belonged to someone else quite a while ago.

When the boys asked what was wrong, she told them quickly before continuing with her work, and her pondering. So much had changed in the space of a few shorts days, and a few hundred air miles. She came so close in LA, to admitting what they both knew. But she was grieving, and still with Josh – the timing wasn't right. The timing was never, ever right. But just two days later she was single again.

She contemplated all of this as she opened her door, mysterious package in hand. It didn't feel heavy, and her name was hand-written. She examined it closely and recognised the familiar handwriting – it was from Castle. She smiled to herself slightly, before shaking her head. Why was he leaving her strange packages? Why didn't he just come into the precinct? Whatever the reason, curiosity soon got the better of her and she tore into the package, letting a small MP3 player tumble out. She fished out two pieces of paper, and opened the first carefully with a gentle smile.

_Dear Kate,_

_If you're reading this, you're home from work. I hope it's at a reasonable hour. Sorry I wasn't there today, but I had some writing I needed to get out of my system – this particular piece included._

She smiled. He had an explanation, as always. And it was true that he hadn't written for a few days.

_I don't even know where to begin to talk about the last few days with you. Obviously, it has been awful. But I don't regret going to LA for one second – I just hope that the closure you got will help you heal. I've been trying to think of a way to make you feel better, at least a little. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was nothing I could really, honestly do to help. When I sat down to write this to you, I was hoping to impart some insanely appropriate piece of wisdom upon you, but clearly that's not going to happen either. So instead, I'm sending you the lyrics to a song I heard a while back. I also sent it for you to listen to, because I'm clever. They're not my words, exactly, but I think they fit._

She laughed lightly, before re-reading the paragraph a few times. He was very sweet when he wanted to be.

_Listen to it, Kate. Carefully. And remember that whatever you may need, I'm only a phone call away. I'd like to hear what you thought of it._

_Always,_

_Rick_

She folded the letter carefully, smiling at his thoughtfulness and the effort he'd put in to try and make her feel better. She was lucky, she knew it – it just took her a while to figure it out. She picked up the small MP3 player and found the lyrics. Placing the earphones in her ears gently, she hit play.

The song started with a gentle guitar riff, and she found herself unconsciously thinking about chords, before shaking her head slightly and focusing on the song. The singer's voice was low and soft, almost singing a gentle lullaby. She read the lyrics in time with the song, and smiled to herself gently.

_Lord, I know,_  
><em>How it can ache,<em>  
><em>The place you go,<em>  
><em>Soul at stake.<em>

_In your hotel,_  
><em>Or your lightwell,<em>  
><em>Least you've always got somewhere to go.<em>

_And how you reach,_  
><em>Across the map,<em>  
><em>You stretch so far,<em>  
><em>But you never snap.<em>

_In your hotel,_  
><em>Or your lightwell,<em>  
><em>Least you've always got somewhere to go.<em>

_Cause no-one's gonna keep you here,_  
><em>Nobody tied you to the pier,<em>  
><em>There's no-one swimming back to land,<em>

_No SOS in the sand,_  
><em>And lord, you are the brightest light,<em>  
><em>The brightest light on the horizon.<em>

_Lord it hurts, yeah I know that it hurts like hell._  
><em>Lord it hurts, yeah I know that it hurts like hell.<em>  
><em>But you do it so well.<em>

_So if you don't know,_  
><em>what I am,<em>  
><em>I'll tell you I am a hologram,<em>

_In your hotel,_  
><em>Or your lightwell,<em>  
><em>Least you've always got somewhere to go.<em>

Kate smiled as the song ended, before hitting the back button and listening to it again, without reading the lyrics. She found herself repeating this action a few more times before smiling brightly. He'd managed to find a perfect song for the past few days, and it even mentioned a pier, she though to herself with a laugh. The coincidence was astounding. She collected the two pieces of paper, the MP3 player, her phone and keys, before locking up and leaving with a smile.

XXX

It was only 20 minutes later when her knuckles softly rapped on the door to his loft.

"Beckett?" Castle asked, surprised.

"Hey, Castle. I hope I'm not interrupting." She said softly, almost shyly, and he smiled.

"Of course not. Come on in. Can I get you a drink?" He asked, ever the host, and she shook her head.

"I'm fine, thanks." She wandered towards the couch and perched there carefully, and Castle dutifully followed. He sat down next to her and she pulled the MP3 player out of her pocket, along with the lyrics. He coughed lightly, as if he were embarrassed about something, and she smiled. "You picked a beautiful song, Rick. I loved it."

"I'm glad." He said softly, almost at a whisper, and she took his hand.

"And even though it is a beautiful song, and I love it so much I'm going to try and learn it when I have some free time" Castle's eyebrows quirked at that. "I think the bit I love more, was the exceedingly beautiful letter that started it all."

"I just… felt helpless. I had to try something. I tried to write but it all came out wrong and I just… I needed to do something, Kate. Anything."

"Rick, look at me." He obeyed quickly, and she kissed his cheek gently, before pulling her arms around his neck. "Thank you. Thank you so much. You were there for me again, exactly where I needed you."

"Always." He murmured softly. She smiled at him, before standing up from the couch and heading for the kitchen, grabbing a tub of ice-cream and two spoons. When she came back to the couch, his look of confusion had turned into a grin. "Ah, comfort food."

"Yeah. I think we deserve it. It's been a long few days." She sighed, before digging in with the spoon and humming a little as the chocolate-y goodness hit her tongue.

"I heard about this morning." He said softly, and she chuckled.

"And you think girls are bad gossips, huh?" she said, before shaking her head a little.

"Are you OK?" He asked softly, and she smiled.

"I'm fine, Castle. It was my decision." He looked stunned at that, and she figured he deserved the further explanation. "He was mad because I hadn't told him about LA. He said some things, I said some things, and he asked me to choose between him and you." She shrugged and couldn't help but giggle at the dazed smile on his face.

"You picked me?" He asked, and Kate laughed.

"Partners, Castle. I don't take that lightly." She said, and he smiled, before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.

"Neither do I, Kate." She settled into his embrace, digging in to the ice-cream again. They ate in relative silence for a little while longer before Kate piped up again.

"Are you my 'somewhere else to go'?" She asked, and he looked at her.

"I was kind of hoping." He said.

"I think you're a lot of things. I think that you're my somewhere else to go, too. But there are days when I think you're so much more." She took a deep breath. "There are days when I wonder if I even deserve you." He opened his mouth to say something but Kate placed her hand over it gently. "Don't say anything, Rick. I know you want to tell me you think I'm amazing and I appreciate that, I really do. But right now I just need you to hear how thankful I am that you're in my life, OK? I whine, and moan, but I love having you around, and I don't think I could've gotten through this without you." She smiled and removed her hand.

"I love you." He whispered softly, and smiled. "I love you, Kate. From the bottom of my heart. I love you more than I think I've loved anyone, which is insane but every time I see you I feel more for you. I was stupid last summer, and I hurt you, and god I'm so sorry for everything I did but" Kate cut him off by putting her hand back over his mouth.

"Jeez, Rick, word vomit much? You only had to say the three little words. Try again." She smiled. He raised his eyebrows at her but followed her instruction anyway.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She said in response, and he grinned widely.

"Really?" He asked, and she laughed before shifting herself to sit on his knees, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Really." She affirmed, before pulling him close and pressing her lips to his, knowing in that instance that she was finished. Rick Castle was her 'one and done'.

She was fairly certain that life would never be the same again.

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you think x<strong>


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